Passages from One Space to Another

One of my favorite Pinterest boards is full of staircases, doorways and hallways. Maybe that’s not what you’d expect to be a fav Pinterest board! But these aren’t your usual staircases, doorways and hallways. Check these out:

How often do you get to experience a beautiful passageway? Truly? These spaces are often overlooked for architectural elements and decor. But why must it be that way? It might not seem important, I guess. But why shouldn’t our movement through spaces feel special? Why shouldn’t they give you a feeling of anticipation while you’re on your journey to where you’re going? Even if it’s in a home. Even if your journey is carrying a load of laundry from bedrooms to the washer and dryer. That’s a boring everyday task of our lives. Shouldn’t there be something to make chores like that feel better?! You can’t change the chore but you can change the surroundings.

People who create spaces that make you feel and experience know the importance of not having common passageways that feel, well, common.

You probably don’t have the space to create magnificent 10-foot-tall carved stone arches in your home’s doorways. Not many of us do! But here’s four things you can do to make the space you have feel special:

Make shadows with light. Install exotic lighting in the ceiling or as wall sconces. It doesn’t have to be expensive lighting, just something unusual and unexpected. Maybe it’s pierced metal lanterns that cast patterns on the walls. You don’t need bright clear light to read books in hallways! So think mysterious, shadowy!

Add an air of opulence. Interesting textiles always make things feel more expensive than they are. Install curtains on rods at entrances to hallways. The fabric could be held back with drapery tie-backs, but the swath of fabric will add color, pattern and a promise of something interesting as you go from one room to another.

What else would you do to make common doorways, staircases and hallways more interesting??